Baba says, ‘Make yourself a mirror and let the Father be visible in your mirror. Do such special service.’

In the world, sometimes it is said about someone that ‘so and so is a mirror image of his father. If you’ve seen him, it’s as if you’ve seen the father. They don’t just look alike, but they walk alike, and even sound alike. And what’s more, he has that same generosity as his father.’

As God’s child, I want nothing more than to reveal the Father, to glorify His name. And so I ask Him, ‘Baba, what should I do to bring about revelation?’ and His answer is simple: ‘it’s not what you have to do, it’s who you have to be. When you reveal yourself, the Father is revealed automatically.’ He reminds me that as His child, I am just like Him- I look just like Him, and have all the same qualities as Him. And for half a cycle, I even lived out those qualities. But then I lost my way due to falling into the wrong company of Ravan and his good friend Maya. I lived with them for not one or two days but for half the cycle and that did a bunch of damage to my truth, to my originality. I became more like them, and less and less like me. I used to be selfless like my Father, they taught me to be selfish. Life that used to be blissful, contented changed to a life of hustling for ‘I and mine’. ‘That’s what life is all about’, they said, ‘it’s all the things you are and all the things you have, it’s your roles and relationships, your accomplishments and approvals. The more ‘I’s you are and ‘mine’s you have, the better!’ Of course, they lied and robbed me blind.

But here’s the good news! My Father is here now and He is once again giving me all that I have lost. He is reminding me daily of who I am and Whose I am. He says, ‘Remember Me alone and become pure.’ He is my only reference point. The more time I spend with Him, and in studying the knowledge, the more I jog my memory of who I really am. I start to remember the old self, the true self, the original self. The sign of this truth being reawakened in me will be divinity – in my thoughts, in my words and my actions.

To continue to live selfishly, caught up in the many limited ‘I and mine’s is the most ordinary and self-sabotaging thing I can do. The people of the world appreciate and admire those that are well-versed with the ‘ways of the world’. And so the common things they say are: ‘it is difficult for honest people to get ahead, one does have to speak a few lies’. And even though I am Baba’s child, sometimes, because of that past influence, I still say similar things myself: ‘I didn’t want to say that or do that but I had to…’. I feel compelled to speak and act a certain way to assert my authority for fear of being taken for granted or because I’m afraid that I’m about to lose something I value – like a position or a person. The reason may be whatever, says Baba, but when you are truthful, you are truthful, there are no excuses. To manipulate a situation or a person to protect my self-interests is the opposite of honesty and divinity.

Sometimes, I look at people like when I used to hang out with Ravan and think: ‘I think I need to be more like her. Her name is glorified a great deal and because of being honest, I have fallen behind…’ Baba says, ‘that is not falling behind, it is moving forward.’ And even if externally, to the world, it seems that I have fallen behind, whom am I concerned with exactly – the Father or other souls? I see someone say or do something that I perceive to be not according to Shrimat and immediately the dogmatic and judgmental sanskars of bhakti that Ravan taught me so well, re-emerge. I might not say anything but my mind goes into overdrive with waste thoughts about them, and out comes my holier-than-thou attitude: ‘thank God, I am not like them!’ Sometimes, I start to go against the tide of the world, think and act more like God and see that others start to feel uncomfortable, they start to oppose me or distance themselves from me. And for fear of losing my ‘friends’, I fall back to old ways. Baba says, ‘you have to be fearless in this. The boat of truth may shake but it will never sink’. The basis of revealing the Father is my return to truth. And where there is truth, there is fearlessness.

‘Remember who you really are and be that‘, says Baba, ‘and become those who have bid farewell to Maya for all time.‘ Every one of the Father’s praise is my title of self-respect, His thoughts are my thoughts, His words are my words, His actions are my actions. Anything outside those boundaries are Ravan’s traits. And so Baba says, ‘practice staying in the awareness of any of the many titles of self-respect’. When I do, I start to think, speak, and act accordingly. Of course Ravan won’t remain quiet and will try to sow the seed of self-doubt in my mind: ‘who do you think you are? you are nothing like God, you lose your temper all the time…’. Baba says, ‘spin the discus of self-realization and see yourself throughout the cycle’. When I do, I cut off the negativity, and reaffirm my belief in myself, in my truth and in the guaranteed return to that truth. I see that it’s predestined, it’s in the cycle!

Let there not be ordinary words, ordinary thoughts or ordinary deeds, but let there be divinity, teaches Baba. For this, all you have to do is remain stable in your truth. Then, when someone comes in front of me, they experience the Father’s love through my vision, His unconditional acceptance through the smile on my face, His tolerance, accommodation, easiness and attitude of giving through my actions. In other words, the long lost children receive a glimpse of the Father through me. This is the greatest service, says Baba. Do such special service now.